Scars
by Little Dhampir Rogue
Summary: What if Dimitri had left to go be with Tasha? Rose had become Lissa's guardian and it is two years after they graduated when Rose next sees Dimitri. What will happen when he shows up at court with Tasha, who's visiting Christian, and he runs into Rose?
1. Everything Comes Back to Haunt You

**I do not own Vampire Academy or any of its characters. Hope you enjoy please write reviews of this work, I don't care if they criticize it or praise it but please be nice about it either way. ^.^ ((btw: Tatiana's not dead and all of that mess never happened, even Dimitri turning strigoi but that's because he would've been gone with Tasha already.)) Rose is Lissa's guardian and it is two years after they graduated from the academy and they are living at court with Adrian and Christian there as well.**

Rose Point of View:

I sat there across from Lissa at the café and took a bite of my sandwich. My guardian-charge relationship with Lissa tended to be more relaxed than others except when we were at any formal events which called for me to follow strict guardian protocol.

I looked at her and found that she was staring at me a bit irritated. "Mmm….sorry what?" I asked realizing that she had been speaking to me as we had sat there.

"Rose… I thought you were supposed to be paying attention to everything around us not spacing off." She teased me smiling, "No, I thought you might like to know that Tasha's coming to visit Christian tomorrow and…well you know what that means." She told me gently, probably expecting me to explode.

"Yes I know what it means." I took a drink of my soda and then finished, "It means I have to put up with that bitch for the duration of her visit." I finished leaning back in my chair trying to avoid Lissa's view. Luckily our bond only went one way so that she could not tell all of the hurt and fury that was raging through my veins right now.

Lissa sighed and looked at me, she reached over the table to set her hand over mine on the table, trying to get me to look at her. "Rose… you're going to have to face him at some point you can't avoid him forever." She told me.

I stood up suddenly and turned to leave. Without another word I walked briskly out of the room wanting to get away before I cried in front of her and everyone else in the shop. She was in court so things were definitely more relaxed and plus she had another guardian who was sitting at another table in the café, she would be fine, I reassured myself and went off to get away.

Running now, I speedily made my way across the grounds and towards the building with my room in it, as tears began to stream down my cheeks. As I made it closer I ignored my surroundings and only came to reality as I ran into someone.

I stepped back and looked up at the person I had run into, Ambrose, a masseuse here at Court and apparently, Queen Tatiana's secret lover. Unlike most male dhampirs, Ambrose had chosen a different path than being a guardian, I admired him a bit for that. I smiled shakily at him and wiped furiously at my eyes. "Hey Ambrose didn't see you there."

"Rose?" he asked me seemingly worried a bit, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine why wouldn't I be?" I asked him and then looked directly at him trying to prove it to him although my eyes were probably red-rimmed from crying as I had run.

He looked at me a bit doubtfully and then finally spoke again, "Why don't you come see my aunt? I was just about to go see her anyways." He told me.

I sighed softly, "Fine, but only because I know that if I don't go then you'll bother me about it until I do." I crossed my arms tightly over my chest and looked at him, "Well go on walk." I told him.

He chuckled at me and began to head towards one of the buildings again. I walked beside him silently, lost in my thoughts. His aunt was a fortuneteller here at Court. I was still a bit doubtful about her ability to foretell the future but I went anyways.

When we finally made it we just walked back into her room reserved for fortune telling and Ambrose plopped himself down onto the couch that was there. I glared over at him briefly and then looked at his aunt and settled down in a chair and looked at her doubtfully.

"I think Rose here needs a tarot reading." Ambrose said casually leaning back hanging his head upside down over the side of the couch. I frowned briefly and looked at his aunt, "No, I really don't." I told her standing up and turning to leave.

His aunt spoke up as I was about to open the door and leave, "Beware, you're going to run into a startling surprise in the near future."

I shrugged her warning off as the normal fortuneteller garbage you heard in cheap movies and the likes and walked out of the door heading directly for my room a building over, not stopping for anything this time.

Once I made it there I went inside and fell back onto my bed pulling my phone out of my pocket and checking it for any missed messages.

_3 unread messages_

I pressed open and read the first of the messages

_From: Lissa_

_Rose please come talk to me I didn't mean to upset you._

I ignored her message and flipped to the next one, from Adrian.

_Little dhampir, come meet me at my rooms later._

I shook my head slightly but was smiling slightly. Adrian was wonderful to me, he did everything and anything for me. I loved him I really did but sometimes I thought back to what I had had with Dimitri and was regretful. With Dimitri I had had an all encompassing burning passion that could face down the world but with Adrian there wasn't that spark like that, there was a connection and love but just not a spark like that. But I was trying my best to be as good of a girlfriend I could be for him.

He had done his share as well, Adrian had quit smoking for a little while now and I only ever smelled smoke on him or saw him smoke in extreme moments of stress, which luckily wasn't too often. And he didn't drink as much either. Sometimes I felt bad for how much he had changed for me but felt like I had done nothing for him.

I laid my head down and tossed my phone over onto the ground knowing that Adrian wouldn't expect me to be there for a while yet. Soon my eyes began to droop as I thought over everything that was going on and soon I felt myself deep within a dream, or more like a memory. It was my memory of the day Dimitri had left me behind.

_I stood there looking up at him. I had been led to thought that today was a normal day of training but Dimitri had a duffel bag strapped over his shoulder and had his duster on. I could see several western novels sticking out the corner of his bag._

_He just looked down at me as I stared up at him, "What?" I cried out angrily at him and struck him in the chest, "What do you mean you're leaving to be with Tasha?" I waved my arms about wildly and then turned around and stalked furiously across the room before walking back over to him._

"_Now Rose just calm down. It's what's best for both of us, what's best for you." He tried to reason with me._

_I turned on him with hurt and fury in my eyes, "You have no idea what's best for me!" I shouted, "Only I know what's best for me." I took a deep breath and looked up into his eyes meaningfully, "And that's you!" I shouted at him striking him in the chest again with my fist. I was shaking from my pain and anger._

_He looked down at me, "Rose….Roza…" he reached out and grabbed my hand in his own._

_I pulled my hand back roughly and looked at him. The use of my Russian nickname made me want to melt in his arms and just cry and beg him to stay but I kept my backbone and didn't give in._

_I glared up at him, "Fine then leave! Just leave!" I screamed, sure that people in the dorms could hear me even though we were in the gym. "What are you still doing here? LEAVE! JUST GO!" I brushed past him, roughly ramming my shoulder into his and stormed out of the front doors to the gym. I rushed away not letting him get to me and try to calm me down. The few people that I ran into had hastily rushed out of my way knowing not to mess with me when I was in a mood._

_Later that day I had watched from a window in my dorm as he left campus with Tasha in a van. I had watched as their bags had been packed and they had driven away, leaving my life forever, or so I thought. It felt like my heart was being torn out of my body by someone's bare hands and then that their hand was mixing around all of my insides. I had stayed in a mood for the next two whole weeks and after that I was still sad and depressed._

Suddenly I woke up with a start and heard it as my phone beeped from the floor. I ran my hand through my hair and picked up my phone looking at the message.

_From: Adrian_

_Hey babe where are you?_

"Crap…" I muttered as I looked at the time and realized that I had overslept and needed to head over to Adrian's. I hastily got up out of my bed and rushed to get dressed nicely and go.


	2. It's Party Time

Scars Ch. 2

**Once again I do not own any of the Vampire Academy plot or characters. Please post reviews I would love to see your thoughts on the story so far.**

**Watching a show about stupid drivers. .**

I dressed myself in a pair of short black shorts and a red v-neck top that fit my curves nicely. This outfit paired with a pair of strappy heels complimented my figure nicely and I knew that Adrian would appreciate the view.

I grabbed my black clutch unsure of what we were doing tonight and headed out the door towards Adrian's rooms. Along the way I was met with various disapproving looks from several moroi in the building, including a few girls, who I knew for certain wanted Adrian for their own, but mainly for his connections.

No one looked kindly upon my relationship with Adrian, especially after any of them had heard of my reputation from the academy. I wasn't exactly known for my innocence back at the academy and now I was paying for it. However I didn't care about anyone's opinions except those I cared about. Besides dhampirs weren't supposed to have permanent relationships with moroi, especially the nephew of the Queen.

Trying to ignore my memory, or more likely, my nightmare, I walked on thinking about why Adrian had told me to come over, it could always be just a normal thing like always, but it gave me something to distract my mind with as I walked.

Finally, I reached his rooms within the Court and knocked on the door, waiting for him to open it and let me in.

When he did pull back the door he was grinning at me and he reached out and wrapped his one arm around my waist pulling me close to him. "Hey little dhampir…" he whispered lustfully down to me.

I hadn't done anything serious with Adrian for the longest time but finally at some point I had given up on Dimitri and tried to put my all into my relationship with Adrian. I had eventually gone all of the way with Adrian after we had both been living at Court near each other for a while. Since then he only seemed to want me more than he had before.

I had given up hope on Dimitri mostly when I had heard about his official marriage to Tasha Ozera. Obviously Christian and Lissa had been invited and Lissa had dragged me along dress shopping and had only talked about the ceremony for months before hand. Luckily though Lissa had realized that it would be way too painful for me to actually attend the event and had given me permission to stay at Court while they went with her other guardians to the service.

Since then she had learned to never tell me any news that was going on with Dimitri and Tasha and their life together.

I smiled up at Adrian shaking my dark hair over one shoulder. I reached up on my toes and kissed him deeply as we stood there my lips soft against his. He pressed against my lower back and groaned slightly as we stood there. That was when I pulled back and just smiled at him, "Not now baby." I told him and stood back on my full feet. "So why did you call me over here anyways? I hope not just for a booty call." I said teasing him as I walked further inside of his rooms and turned back to look at Adrian.

I watched as he took in the full view of my appearance and put my hands on my hips and looked at him with raised eyebrows. Smiling I asked him, "See anything you like?"

"Oh…yes…" Adrian told me but then shook his head as if shaking the idea. I laughed softly as I watched him thinking he was so cute when he was like this.

He walked over and wrapped his arm around my lower back leading me towards the doorway. "I thought we might go to my father's dreadful social event and then to my own party afterwards." He told me as we reached the door and he led me back out.

I turned and looked at him. "Adrian! I'm not dressed for something like _that._" I told him talking about the moroi social event that most likely the Queen herself would be attending. I did not care about many people's opinions but it did not make things any better that I would be attending an important event improperly dressed.

He chuckled softly and pulled me close as he joined me in the hallway closing his door shut behind him. "I think you look lovely." He kissed me and then I pulled back and hit him lightly in the chest.

"You could've at least warned me." I told him and then sighing began to walk with him down the hallway and towards one of the halls meant for royal moroi gatherings.

Upon our arrival I was met with many disapproving looks at my appearance and whispering began among a few groups as they looked directly at me. I grabbed Adrian's hand in my own and intertwined my fingers with his before turning and kissing him deeply in front of them all, proving that I was his and that I didn't care what they said about me.

Adrian began to kiss me back wrapping his hand up in my hair and holding me close with his other arm. I smiled and continued to kiss him to the alarm of everyone else in the room.

Suddenly I heard a feminine cough from right behind us and pulled back and looked over at whoever it was with my head leaning on Adrian's chest, "If you've got a problem with…" my snarky voice died off as I caught sight of who it was. There before us stood Adrian's aunt, Queen Tatiana and behind her were Adrian's father, looking the most disapproving in the room, and his mother, whose eyes were wide in surprise that they would do something like this there.

I didn't go back to kissing Adrian but I stayed there standing in his arms. I moved so that my back was to him, up against his chest, and felt it as he wrapped his arms around my waist holding me close as we both faced these members of his family.

Tatiana looked at me with disgust and then at Adrian, "Adrian, it is a pleasure to see you as always." Then Tatiana faced me and sneered, "Surely Miss Hathaway you could've come dressed in something more _appropriate_."

I just smiled back at her, "Well no ma'am you know us dhampirs could never have nice clothes like you rich bitches of the moroi." I told her and then nodded my head slightly, "Your highness…"

Tatiana ignored me now and looked back at Adrian ignoring me completely now, "You might want to teach your little blood whore to control her mouth."

I growled low in my throat and clenched my fists but felt Adrian's arms tighten around me, restraining me, although I knew that if I wanted free I could easily get free of his grasp.

Tatiana smirked and finished speaking to us with three words, "And her temper."

I struggled against his arms but he made 'shhing' noises and whispered in my ear, "Just ignore her." He kissed my neck softly. This wasn't exactly a good sign to many in the room however, because to them this small motion would signal that I allowed him to drink my blood, and therefore was true to the rumor and was the blood whore they said I was.

I did not allow Adrian to drink my blood except once or twice during our most private and intimate moments however I did not think that made me a blood whore. I was not staying with him only for his power, money, or pleasure it was to have an honest relationship with someone.

Adrian wrapped his arm around my waist and turned to watch as his father began the gathering officially. I stood there with him throughout the processions but when it was over and we were walking to where presumably Adrian was hosting a part I stopped and looked at him. "I can't put up with any more of _them_ tonight." I told him, he seemed to understand that I meant all of the royal moroi that stayed here at court. His party would be almost entirely moroi and almost all of those would be rich royals.

Adrian sighed and held me close by wrapping his arms around my waist as I faced him. "So you don't want to go to the party then?"

"Not really…" I told him honestly and looked up into his eyes, "But you shouldn't miss out on your own party. Go on without me I'll be fine." I told him although I would really rather have him come with me back to one of our rooms.

I sighed and kissed him goodnight before turning to go. I felt his fingers grasp my wrist and then shove a metal key into my hand. I looked down and recognized the key to his rooms. I looked back over my shoulder at him a bit confused.

"Go back to my room I'll just go to say hi to everyone and then come on up. I have an extra key to get in." he told me and then let go of my hand.

I nodded my head smiling and then headed back up to his room. Upon my arrival I tossed the key and my clutch onto the coffee table and then kicked off my shoes. Now barefoot and enjoying it I laid down on his bed and waited for him to arrive back there. However sometime before he came back my eyelids drooped down and slowly but surely I fell asleep on his bed.

Sometime in the night I awoke to a pressure against my back as I was laying on my side and a light pressure over my side. I looked and saw an arm draped over my side and instantly recognized it as Adrian's. I relaxed again and cuddled up against him.

"Sleep my little dhampir…" he whispered in my ear and gently stroked my hair. Once again I feel asleep, this time comforted by his presence there with me.


	3. Encounters

**Once again I do not own Vampire Academy or any of its characters. So review review review please! Plus in any reviews for this chapter I would love if you would be so kind as to put whether you think Rose should end up with Dimitri or Adrian in the end, this might affect which I do eventually. **

In the morning I rolled over onto my back and felt a pressure across my belly. I looked down and saw Adrian's arm draped across me. He was still deep asleep and I could hear his breathing as he laid beside me in the bed. I stayed laying there and lightly placed my arm over his intertwining our fingers.

My thoughts wandered off to whether I should really be like this with him. Adrian had fixed his ways a bit but most still thought that he should marry a moroi woman and continue on his bloodline. I was only seen as his temporary infatuation until he found someone better, someone that he would drop at a moment's notice, well by most anyways.

People thought that Adrian was only dating me for my physical attributes, namely my generous curves. They thought that I was just some blood whore who Adrian kept around for his own pleasure and that I was only with him for his money and status.

I felt a soft kiss on my cheek as I stared up at the ceiling and turned my head to look over into Adrian's eyes, drawing me from my thoughts. "My little dhampir…" he told me and then kissed me on the lips softly.

I smiled at him softly when he pulled back, "Morning…" I took a deep breath and began to sit up, "I think I'll just go…" I told him and began to get up out of the bed. However I felt his arm go around my waist and I leaned back so that my head was laying on his chest with my body perpendicular to his, my feet hanging off of the side since I had been about to get up.

I turned my head to look at him, "I should really go see how Lissa is…" I tried to tell him. He shook his head and chuckled, I could feel the vibrations of his chest against my head. "Don't worry there are plenty of guards all over at Court and you'd know if anything happened to her anyways." He told me and that was the truth, I had nothing else to try to convince him to let me leave.

"Fine but at least let me get up out of this bed…" I told him, this time he let me go, Adrian knew that if he tried to fight it too much I would not be very happy with him. I finally was able to stand up and walked over to where I had set my clutch purse down the night before. I saw my phone sitting beside it and looked to see if I had any messages.

_1 New Message_

I pressed enter to open the message and saw who it was from, Lissa, it was only from about half an hour ago.

_I'm srry about yesterday. _

I exited out of the message and set my phone back down on the table. I headed back into Adrian's bathroom and decided to take a shower. The hot water and the warm steam seemed to relax my tensed muscles a bit. I put on matching black underwear and a lacy bra and headed out into Adrian's room again. He was now fully dressed and lounging back on the bed again. I noticed him watching me appreciatively from the bed as I went over and pulled out some of the clothing that I kept at his place.

Since things had gotten pretty serious between us, and both of us lived at court, we had decided that it would be alright that I kept a few things in his rooms in case I needed them. I pulled on the tight jean shorts and the low cut black blouse I had pulled out of the drawer.

I faced him again and picked up my clutch and phone from the table, "Adrian I'd really just like to go…" I told him softly not wanting to be in the housing area when Tasha arrived to visit Christian. I don't know if I would be able to handle it if I had to put up with that today. I set my things back down as I put my shoes back on and then picked up my clutch again and looking over at him.

Adrian smoothly lifted himself up off of his bed and headed in my direction wrapping his arm around my waist and steering me towards the door, "Why don't we go have some breakfast and let me show you off to the others."

We headed off down the hall and towards the café that I had been in yesterday with Lissa. When we arrived Adrian steered me over to a booth in the corner and slid in before me. I sat down beside him, very nearly in his lap as we decided what we wanted. Eventually we got drinks and some sandwiches. However I only took a few bites before just sitting there and cuddling close to him as we talked about things.

So far I had been lucky and had not been reassigned to another charge or duty other than Lissa. Being her guardian kept me close to her and Adrian. Without them I don't know what I would do. Somehow we ended up kissing as we sat there, my lips soft against his. His hands ran up my sides and my hands rested lightly on his chest.

Adrian moved me so that I was sitting in his lap facing him as we kissed. We weren't groping or anything, just kissing. Apparently no one was going to interrupt the nephew of the Queen from doing something like this. I was sort of glad of that since it would've ended up awkwardly if someone had. However, I knew that we were getting looks from others in the café probably. Finally I pulled back and laid my head on his chest as we sat there.

His hands were running along my sides softly, sending shivers up my spine. "Why don't we take this somewhere more…private." He suggested whispering in my ear lustfully.

I shook my head slightly, "Later not now…" I kissed him softly and then climbed off of his lap and began to eat my sandwich again. As we were finishing up I heard the door to the café open with a ding and heard footsteps entering the room.

As I looked up away from my food and Adrian finally I noticed a flash of blond hair however my eyes were automatically drawn to the third, and final, person who had entered the door.

A unique person indeed she didn't seem to notice me yet. Her dark hair hung down around her face framing the skin that was only marred by the thick scars that ran along her cheek pink and ridged. Her blue eyes twinkled in the light, those same eyes that I saw in Christian and her smile lit up her face as she talked with Christian and Lissa, who were her companions so far for the morning. _Tasha freakin' Ozera, _the thought whispered angrily through my mind.

This woman I hated with ever fiber of my being, no one, not even strigoi earned the level of hate that I held just especially for her. Back at the academy this woman had taken the one thing in my life that was good, the one thing that made me happy and kept me sane. She had taken my mentor. She had taken my friend. She had taken the love of my life. And lastly she had taken _my 'comrade'._

I was careful not to let on how upset I was to Adrian. I was happy with Adrian now and I loved him but just like always that painful past was back to haunt me.

I began to stand up and grabbed Adrian's hand in my own. "Come on let's go." I told him barely any emotion in my voice. Adrian let me drag him to his feet and began to follow me towards the door as I tried to make my retreat unnoticed.

I heard Lissa call out behind me as I passed their table. "Rose! Adrian! Over here."

Adrian looked over his shoulder at Lissa, "Sorry maybe later…" he told her as I continued to drag him closer and closer to the door. I had not spared another glance at Tasha since she had walked in.

Just as I reached the door it opened with a ding and I darted through shoving past whoever was standing there. Roughly slamming my shoulder into their duster covered one and heading straight for any other building other than that one.


	4. Long Time No See

**Once again I do not own anything that is Vampire Academy. Thank you oh so much for all of the great reviews so far, I know there's only ten or so but still that is so much better than nothing! ^.^ Anyways, I hope you all like this chapter as well. Even if you did not do this before please put if you think Rose should end up with Dimitri or Adrian in this fanfiction. Here we go….**

**Last and finally I now have a forum for Vampire Academy roleplaying and here is the link… **.net/myforums/Little_Dhampir_Rogue/2684219/

I led Adrian back to my own rooms this time and slammed the door shut behind us. Sighing frustratedly I went over to my bed and fell backwards onto it. I shut my eyes tightly and I put my hands to my head. "That woman…" I vented.

Adrian seemed confused, "Rose…what's going on?" he asked me. I had never told him about my relationship with Dimitri although he had guessed a few times, but they had mostly been jokingly. He had only ever teased me about having a crush on my mentor. I had never gone all of the way with Dimitri but we had had something with each other.

I sighed and just stayed silent for a while then I felt it as the edge of the bed depressed and I felt a hand against my wrist gently prying my hand off of my face. I removed my hands finally and opened my eyes slowly, sitting up so that I could face Adrian directly as he sat there beside me on my own bed. I tucked my feet beneath my knees in a criss cross style and looked Adrian in the eyes.

"Little dhampir…" he said it almost questioningly, "What is it?" he asked me gently and I almost wanted to break down right then and there.

"Adrian it's nothing alright?" I looked at him trying to fake a normal expression however around him I just couldn't quite hide my true feelings from him anymore, finally I dropped my head slightly and to the side avoiding his gaze. He reached out and tilted my head up slightly so that our eyes met again. "What is it my little dhampir?" he asked me again.

I looked at him and sighed, "Adrian it's just that damn Tasha Ozera! Ok?" I vented almost shouting now, just snapping when he wouldn't drop the subject. I knew that I should probably approach the subject with care otherwise I would regret it later but right now I had snapped. "She's just a god-damned bitch." I vented.

His eyes widened at my sudden outburst. Adrian knew that I had my little outbursts now and then but I suppose that my anger at Tasha Ozera really almost made no sense to him. She had never done anything that seemed outright mean or horrid to me personally so to the public my anger was unwarranted.

Adrian reached out and held my hand softly in his. "Rose…this is uncalled for all she's doing is visiting Christian."

I roughly pulled my hand out of his and stood up on my feet and glared down at him. I felt a dark edge add to my anger and if I had been in anything near my right mind I might have noticed the dark negative effects that spirit had on me now and then once it had built up for a while.

I put my hands on my hips. "You have _no _clue what that woman has done to me!" I shouted at him this time and turned around stalking over to the wall and leaning my forehead against it before pushing off of it with one hand and walking a few steps back towards the bed, glaring at Adrian, "You do _not _try to defend that bitch!" I yelled raw pain in my voice.

Adrian looked at me with worry in my voice. "Rose don't be like this this is just spirit talking." He told me. I knew that part of it was the spirit but mostly the spirit was just spurring on my true emotions right now and most of this was actually me talking.

"No Adrian! This is not just spirit!" I was just so irritated and pissed off right now. How could my boyfriend be trying to get me to calm down when the bitch was so close to us at court right now. "She ruined my life Adrian!" I screamed and turned kicking the wall. Magically, my heel did not break however I left a pretty nice size dent in the wall.

Adrian sprung up from the bed and suddenly his arms were around my waist from behind and he was whispering gently in my ear, "Shh….this is just the spirit talking…Tasha has never done anything to you Rose…" he told me which in his mind was true and logical.

I thrashed violently trying to get free of his arms and tried stomping down on his feet. Finally with an elbow to the ribs and my heel digging down onto his foot his arms released me accompanied by an array of his colorful vocabulary as I heard him curse. I stumbled a few feet away and wheeled around to face him again. "Do not tell me to calm down!" I shouted and glared at him. He was supposed to support me, my mind reasoned, he wasn't supposed to betray me like this, he was my damn boyfriend!

"I haven't seen Dimitri in years thanks to her!" I yelled, my emotions raging out of control now. I watched as his eyes widened and then he stubbornly tried to reason with me, you would think he would realize it was useless now.

"Little dhampir….Rose…I get that he was your mentor and you two were friends but that's no reason that that ruins your life. You could've contacted him, it's not impossible to have made a phone call or send a letter." He told me, finally I saw that he was getting a bit fed up with my attitude, and possibly some of his own spirit affecting him like it did me and Lissa now and then.

"No! I couldn't have done that so don't try to convince me that this is my own fault!" I shouted and stepped forward, shoving Adrian backwards. Unprepared for it and also thanks to my training, Adrian stumbled backwards a few steps almost falling over.

"Why not Rose? Give me a good reason that you couldn't have and I will stop this." He finally told me after looking at me hurt that I would shove him like that. Adrian's voice was soft and sounded strained. Like he just wanted me back to my normal self and possibly like he was fighting off his own anger now.

"Because I love him!" I shouted tears finally falling down my cheeks, my eyes red, and my voice strained. I hadn't even said that I had loved Dimitri I had said 'love' and that was still true for me. Even after all of these years and after everything that had happened my own passion still burned deeply for Dimitri.

After my confession an oppressive silence fell over my room. No noise at all came. I didn't hear any tvs or any talking anywhere else nearby in the building and I didn't hear footsteps or anything. I didn't even hear a russle of our clothing or of any humming electronics like some refridgerators did. It was deadly silent and I was still burning with an intense rage. The only thing I could hear was my own breathing and my heart pounding as if it would fall out of my chest.

Adrian looked at me with an extreme amount of hurt in his eyes for a moment before his expression turned to one of pure rage just like mine. "So what am I then? Your stand in? You're just stringing me along until you don't want me anymore?" He roared and stormed forward to grab my wrist in his hand. I tried to pull away but found that I couldn't. Either adrenaline or some odd effect of his spirit induced rage was causing him to be able to overpower me for now. "Answer me!" he shouted.

I just stared dumbly up at him realizing what I had told him and what I had done. My rage for Tasha still burned like fire in my veins but my expression softened and I just looked up at him now as we stood there. "No…no…" my voice was so soft I almost didn't believe it was my own voice and a noise rang in my ears after all of my shouting and yelling opposed to my sudden quietness. "Adrian…no.."

He shoved back with his hand that was holding my wrist causing me to fall backwards onto my bed. "Rose!" he raged, "Are my feelings just a toy for you? Is that it? You say that I'm not just a stand in but you just yelled at me that you love another man! When you haven't even fucking seen him for years!" Adrian glared down at me as he stood at the side of my bed. "Maybe they were all right. You're just some blood whore who wanted to string me along!" he yelled and suddenly let go of his tight grip on my wrist.

I knew that this was the dark effects of spirit talking mainly now, the Adrian I knew would never be like this even after what I had just said. I could see that uncontrolled darkness in his expression but that term just sent me into a pure fury, directed at him this time. "What did you just call me?" I asked sitting up on my bed and looking up at him boldly. My voice wasn't loud but it was a normal volume. However it was seemingly too steady for how angry I was, but it had a lethal tone to it. I was seriously furious at him.

_No one, _not even my boyfriend, got away with calling me a blood whore. I moved suddenly to my feet and slapped him hard across the cheek, making his head turn to the side from the amount of force behind that slap. I shoved him backwards. "LEAVE!" I shouted at him. "Just go on leave!" I shouted.

Adrian seemed to finally realize that it was not a wise idea to piss me off like this and began to stumble back, away from me. I reached over and picked up a picture frame from the bedside table and chucked it at his head. He tried to move but wasn't quite fast enough and it clipped his ear before going on to hit the wall and shattering into thousands of pieces on the floor. "LEAVE!" I screamed stalking over and slamming the door open for him, just as I did so the heel on my shoe snapped and I cursed angrily. "GET OUT!" I yelled furiously, glaring at him with pure venom in my eyes.

Stumbling, with his hand over his ear, which I could now see a thin trail of blood trickling from down his neck, Adrian stumbled through the door and turned right in time to have me slam the heavy door in his face. I was pretty sure that I had heard him curse and heard the door hit something, his face?, whatever, I didn't care anymore.

I stumbled over towards my bed and finally paused leaning against the wall, with my arm extended and my hand against it, kicking my shoes off of my feet and stepping down on the carpet. I continued to head towards my bed then when I realized suddenly that the picture frame was broken on the floor…by a piece of glass being lodged into the bare skin of the bottom of my foot. "Shit." I muttered and yanked the piece of glass out of foot before quickly cleaning up the mess. When I went to pick up the main piece that was mostly still in one piece and flipped it over I wanted to cry suddenly. There smiling back at me was me and Adrian, with his arms around me and we were both laughing and smiling at the camera.

I dropped it and headed towards my bed again, this time flopping down face first onto my bed. I screamed into the comforter and began to thrash violently, hitting the comforter violently with my fists and feet. I had lost another man in my life, and once again with an angry goodbye from me. How could I be so fucking stupid to ruin both major relationships I had ever had with men.

At some point I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I woke up suddenly and looked at the time, it was almost the end of the moroi day, which would be the human nighttime, so it was into the early hours of the morning right now. Needing to talk to Lissa I stood up and began searching around for my phone. I checked all over my room and everywhere in my suite-like home but could not find it. "Crap." Frustrated, I kicked a wooden chair that was sitting there, sending it to splinter one of its legs against my desk that was over in the corner.

I had just realized that I had left my phone sitting on Adrian's coffee table when I had left that morning. Against my not wanting to see Adrian ever again, I needed to get that damn phone back before he found it and fucking destroyed it or something. Frustrated I stood up and headed out the door, not even bothering with shoes.

Stomping my feet as I went I angrily stormed down hallways and through buildings all of the way over to Adrian's rooms. Once there I knocked on his door hard and fast and heard the door creak beneath my fist. I knew he was in there I could hear him however I also knew that he would never open this door to me, and thanks to how I was knocking how could it be anyone but me at the door? I felt like if I had to I would kick down this door just to get my phone. The banging of my fist on the door echoes down throughout the hallway.

I was just about to finally destroy the door when I heard footsteps behind me. "Roza?" I heard a gently voice say behind me. My fist froze in midair. _Shit, shit , shit…NO!_ I screamed in my mind. I knew that rich liquid voice anywhere, I knew that voice better than I knew my own.

I turned around slowly and looked up looking into the man's eyes who I thought I would never see again. His dark brown hair fell down framing his face, framing those deep chocolate eyes, and a strand hung down in front of one of them, never wanting to stay in place. I had to fight the sudden strong desire to reach up and tuck that lock of hair back behind his ear. That wasn't my place anymore. His duster hung off of his shoulders and to no surprise in his hand was what was no doubt a western novel. "Long time no see comrade." I finally said smiling crookedly and looking back up into Dimitri Belikov's, my heart's desire's, eyes.

**Rose never went all of the way with Dimitri since if he went with Tasha that wouldn't have happened, he would've already been gone.**


	5. NOTE  PLEASE READ!

I do not own Vampire Academy….however much I wish I did.

So anyways here is what I decided. I shall decide in this one which one (Adrian or Dimitri) Rose ends up with you will not know at this moment. Since I have half of you voting for Dimitri and half of you guys voting for Adrian this is what I shall do. But if all of you keep reading and reviewing this story I shall create a "Scars II" story with an alternate ending (or just different after this chapter) where Rose ends up with the other person but only if his one can stay popular. Thank you. ^-^

Now on to Chapter 5 or 6 or whatever!


	6. The Man I Knew

**I do not own Vampire Academy no matter how much I wish I did. Please review this story and I'd love it if I could get all of you to follow both of the Scars once the alternate one is created. ^-^**

**Sorry for the ginormous wait but finally I am once again back and dedicated!**

**I'm not sure how great this chapter is but here it is…. :/**

I stood there, my heart pounding in my chest from his nearness. It had been such a long time since I had seen him, Dimitri, my Dimitri. He had barely changed physically since I had last seen him, about two to three years ago now. His hair, his duster, his height, his eyes all drew me towards him and made my heart yearn for him as they once did. But deep in his eyes it seemed as if a flame was extinguished. Where once I had seen a matching longing in his eyes there was none now. Where once there had been a laughing glint in his eyes or stern gaze at my antics there was none. His eyes were shields masking his distant emotions from me now.

It felt like my heart had been dropped and stomped on. Where was the man I had once known? This Dimitri that stood here before me seemed but a shell, a mere imitation of the person who had captured my heart so long ago. I had not even talked to him yet but I knew everything had changed during our duration apart.

He just stood there staring back at me. Finally he spoke, "Guardian Hathaway." He nodded his head in a respectful gesture towards me. Last time I had seen him I was but a mere novice, a student, and he was all but a god among the guardians. But now…now we were equals. Two talented guardians who had gone through nearly equal training. He had a number of years on me in experience but I was not exactly a slouch or a newcomer to the duties of a guardian.

"Dimitri…" I smiled back at him and flipped my hair over one of my shoulders. Many female guardians cut their hair short for the occupation and once upon a time, back at the academy, I had been worried about having to do the same. I remembered that back then Dimitri had told me to just put my hair up instead, he had liked my hair just the way it was then. I came back to my senses and finally realized that I had still just been standing there in the hall staring at him.

I leaned back against the wall of the hall forgetting my phone entirely for now. "So how are things with Tasha?" Was that a venomous tone in my voice at her name? There was no changing that now. I crossed my arms across my chest and looked back at the man who I had longed for, for years now.

He looked at me, "Things are fine. Roza, don't be that way." He had begun to fiddle with his wedding ring as he responded to my question. That nickname for me, his nickname for me. It made my knees go weak, my heart beat faster, and my arms just want to embrace him. Perhaps this cold detached persona of his was just a mere farce? Maybe he was trying to fight back emotions the same way in which I was?

"What way?" I replied immediately defensive in my tone and words. My hands landed on my hips and I stuck out a hip putting most of my weight on a single leg.

He shook his head and chuckled softly, "I see you haven't changed much." Finally I saw a glimpse of the man I had once known. "What are you doing up here anyways?" This specific wing and especially this floor were for socially high-ranking resident and visiting moroi only. And considering that he was here with Tasha, Dimitri obviously would know that this was not where Lissa and Christian lived. So there went any excuse I had that could avoid the truth.

"I…uh…I left something…" I had not really intended on trying to explain my relationship with Adrian to my old flame. "Behind..." I finished lamely. I watched as the expression on his face shifted and clearly showed he understood that I had not left something there on business. However within a second his visage shifted into that of neutrality once again.

Just then I heard a shuffling emit from behind Adrian's door and pushed myself off of the wall. "Why don't we go get a drink or something and catch up." I suggested not wanting to be there when a sleep-deprived, pissed-off, possibly hung over Adrian opened the door to find the two of us casually talking in the hallway. As well as the fact that although Dimitri may have figured out that I was involved in a relationship with a moroi but he did not know that that moroi was Adrian, and I would rather keep it that way for now. Dimitri paused at my words and seemed as if he was about to argue but I began to walk before he could get the chance to point out that it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

I began to make my way down the hallway assuming that Dimitri would follow me. I heard muffled thuds on the carpet behind me and smiled slightly to myself, knowing that he indeed was. We headed down and it was just my luck that the only place open right now, since it was moroi nighttime, was the café that I had been in earlier with Adrian, and where I had run into Lissa, Christian, and Tasha. And now I realized that I had quite literally ran into Dimitri on my dramatic leave from the scene. It seemed as though that the café would most likely close up relatively soon however.

The sun was beginning to peek up over the horizon painting the sky bands of golds, oranges, and yellows. It was dawn and I realized then how much I had missed the sun. Being a dhampir the sun had no malignant effect on myself or Dimitri however since I worked for the moroi it had been a long time since I had just been able to spend a little amount of time in the sun, no matter how little light it was. That's when the idea hit me and I rounded on Dimitri as he continued to head towards the café with me. I held out my hand in a halting motion and grinned up at him, "Why don't we take a walk around the grounds comrade?" I suggested ignoring the voice in my head that said walking alone with a married man while the others slept might not be the smartest idea I had ever come up with. However I seriously doubted that many moroi would be up at this time and he had been my mentor so it wasn't necessarily suspicious I tried to tell myself. But somewhere in my mind I knew that if word got back to Tasha that I was screwed. There was no way she would see it as just a friendly meeting between a student and mentor but would read more into it.

Once again, as he did earlier, Dimitri seemed to hesitate at the idea. However I reached out and began to tug him by the hand down a path to our left, sticking to the dense shadows cast by the buildings in the early morning light. After a few moments of walking side by side down the path however I realized I was still holding his hand, and more than that he was letting me. But despite the urge to just stay like that I averted my gaze from this man's direction and gingerly slipped my hand free of his own. My heart beat was hammering unnaturally loud in my chest it seemed and I worried for a mere second that he would hear it. Damn it, why did he have to have this effect on me. Even when he was silent and did not even glance my way I still longed for him.

A silence loomed over us as we continued to walk around the compound that was the moroi court. I glanced over in his direction and thought I had glimpsed him avert his gaze, was he perhaps looking at me? From what I had seen of him so far he didn't seem anything like the man I had once loved but I was desperately hoping this was just a ruse to try and discourage any rekindling of our passion for each other.

I hopped up onto the top bar of a fence that encompassed a garden type area and stared out at the rising golden orb. I felt the fence slightly move as Dimitri leaned back against it watching with me. It would have been a perfectly wonderful moment if only he wasn't with Tasha. Why was I thinking that way? I was with Adrian, I tried to focus on this one thought in my mind. Even though we had fought earlier I knew that if I tried to start something here I would only be acting like a two timing bitch.

I stared down at my lap and despite how I was usually confident and cocky my next words were drawn out and quiet, "Are you happy with her?" The awkward silence between us obviously wasn't going anywhere and I needed to know. Know that maybe one of us wasn't regretting past decisions and actions right now. A light pressure found its way to my chin and without any conscious effort on my part my head turned to face him, his finger lightly under my chin.

"Roza…" he let the name hang there. A pained expression was on his face and it wasn't until then I realized the stinging in my eyes and the tears that had silently streaked down my cheeks. I pulled my head out of his grasp and wiped furiously at the wet stains as if they had betrayed me.

"Please…just answer the question." I begged of him not wanting to hear him try to comfort me or ease the pain away. I stared back at him with red-rimmed eyes wanting a completely honest answer.

"I…I don't know." He admitted as he turned to stare back at the sunrise and ran a hand through his hair. Oh how I wished I could touch that hair of his, wrap my arms around him, kiss him…. These thoughts only caused my heart to ache in longing.

For minutes we just sat there silently. I spent a couple watching him but then had proceeded to stare at the horizon willing myself to just give up. He was married for god's sake! But that didn't make me want him any less. Thoughts and memories flooded my mind in the peaceful morning, those of me and my Dimitri in the gym back at the academy, of how he had been able to calm me down when others couldn't, how he was always there for me. But then the train came to an incendiary crash as that final memory hit me. I was caught in the headlights and there was no escaping the memory now. How he had left, how I watched, doing nothing but pining, taking no course of action. A familiar tingling started in my eyes… NO! I thought to myself, I will not break down, not here, not now, that's the past I can't redo it but that doesn't mean that I can't try to correct my mistake in the now.

"Dimitri?" I turned my head towards him and just as he turned to look at me in response I took action. Leaning in my lips brushed against his, softly at first and then more demanding. After a few seconds I finally registered that it wasn't just me but that he was kissing me back right now. No thoughts crossed my mind of how he was married or how I was supposed to be with Adrian in this moment. It was only me and Dimitri, just as if we were picking up where we had left off back at the academy. We both were acting with a long hidden need and longing.

I felt him pull me closer to him and I carefully kept my balance on the fence as he moved to stand in front of me as I sat there. His hands moved lightly up my sides, lighting a fire to my skin as they did so. Then those hands were gently holding my head as we kissed. I nipped lightly at his lower lip and was met with a low groan. But suddenly I was jerked out of this bliss as I realized his lips were not on mine anymore. "Rose…I can't." He sounded pained, I could see the concentration in his expression as he tried to stop himself from continuing with this path of action. His cheeks were flushed and no doubt my lips looked swollen.

The tears were back and boy were they strong. Slowly they trickled down my cheeks and I looked away from him and off to the side. Despite crying I held my head high and jutted my chin out in defiance. "Then just go back to Tasha if you are just fucking with me." I knew I had started the meaningful kiss but he had continued it. If he was just leading me on to get his kicks well he could go to hell.

After several silent moments I got up off of the fence and shoved him away so I could head back towards my rooms. Just as I reached the entrance to the building in which I lived I felt a hand quickly grab my wrist and spin me around. Before I knew what was happening my lips were against someone else's, someone who I would know anywhere. He ended the kiss again this time but not so abruptly. "Roza…I missed you." He sighed, "But you know I'm married. It's not as if I am simply dating someone."

I nodded my head slowly although the fury that burned within me was barely contained. Over the past couple of years with Lissa I had had to contain my volatile anger in hopes of not being fired as a guardian. Not that this was put into practice when not at a moroi social event. But now I used this and tried to make my mind think of the logic in his words. However all I could remember were his lips on mine and the passion that still lurked between us. I looked up into his eyes and could see he was having just as difficult a time with this as I was. The sun caused his wedding ring to glint in the light just then. It was like a shock of cold water, I jerked my hand free from his grasp and put on a more resolved façade. "Like I said I don't want to be toyed with."

I turned around then and swore to myself not to look back. Heading up to my room the dam broke and my cheeks were coated with salty tears of regret and fury at everything. By the time I fell into my bed my eyes stung and I was shaking.


	7. Wash It All Away

**Once again I do not own anything that is Vampire Academy. I'm somewhat doubtful of the qualtiy of this chapter but here it is. I'd appreciate any reviews from anyone, I always love to see your comments. ^-^ Enjoy.**

My shoulder stung with a passion but I forged ahead, matching my opponent hit for hit. If they got in a hit on my arm I got one in on their leg. If they nearly got me pinned I did pin them for a moment for two. I could see my opponent weakening before my eyes as fear flashed in their own.

No doubt they were wondering who had pissed me off to earn them the privilege of being the outlet for my rage. It was common knowledge to stay away from me when I was pissed. However, sparring was just the perfect outlet I had needed today to channel my pent up confusion and angst over Dimitri's return and Adrian and I's fight.

I had gone into the training gym to vent my anger on a punching or perhaps a mannequin but had ended up running into a young guardian by the name of Aleksey. He was a tall, gangly youth with a head full of dark chocolate locks probably only two or three years younger than my own twenty years. He had been cocky to begin with not heeding my warnings when he initially agreed to spar with me. He had heard my name and knew who my charge was however he was young and I could see that he considered my gender and height to be against me in a fight. Boy was he wrong. Punches were perfect

Dimitri had come sauntering back into the middle of moroi society like nothing and then kissed me out in the daylight while his precious wife was locked up tight inside away from the 'dreadful' light. I shouldn't be worried I knew this. I probably shouldn't even be contemplating any feelings for Dimitri, I was with Adrian after all, who treated me better than most moroi would treat a dhampir and yet I couldn't help but wonder if Dimka still harbored any feeling for me after all this time. Could it be possible he had thought he had done the proper thing in leaving me for Tasha and regretted it? Even just a little bit?

Coming back to reality from the muddled and downright confusing thoughts in my mind I quickly realized that I had pinned my opponent to the floor and was on top of the young guardian, straddling his chest to hold him down, keeping a practice stake above his heart, just barely grazing the fabric of his shirt.

"Perhaps you should get off the lad before I get you off of him." A voice drawled from the doorway, the smell of alcohol drifting into the room.

Shaking my head I rolled off of the frightened youth, landing face up on the mats that padded the floor. Aleksey quickly scrambled up before heading for the door, a bruise already darkening on his arm I noticed.

I closed my eyes briefly and what else should happen but Dimitri's face appeared in my mind. A memory from long ago of him smiling at me, telling me to keep my hair long, kissing me during our training sessions, holding me… but he had left me.

Opening my eyes I looked up into the amused face of the man who had never left. The man I had thrown out of my room the last time I had seen him. The man who had called me a blood whore, I bristled at that last memory, a bitter taste filling my mouth as I spoke his name. "Adrian…"

Ignoring his extended hand I pushed myself up onto my feet and wiped the sweat off my brow with the bottom of my shirt before pushing past him, heading for a punching bag. I began kicking the bag hard and fast, giving Adrian little opportunity to talk to me head on.

"So do you always straddle your sparring opponent when you take them down? I know you probably did it to Belikov all the time…. Probably naked too." He obviously lost any control over his mouth when drunk.

Even drunk however I didn't feel like going through this with him. He didn't have the right anymore to give me shit about that when he had yelled at me that I was nothing more than a blood whore who was using him. I grabbed the punching bag as it swung back towards my face, meeting his gaze dead on with a serious look.

"So you call me a blood whore and then decide it's a good idea to show up drunk off your ass to talk shit about me to my face some more?" I intoned deadpan, done with his shit. If he wanted to talk to me seriously about our relationship, if we still had one, or anything else he could at least have the decency to do it sober.

"Well… you didn't come to see me and you're the one who told me you love another man…. and then threw a picture at me." He slurred. "I … I have… I have a cut on my ear thanks to you…" he bit out, speech becoming increasingly difficult for the drunk moroi. Adrian took a step forward and grabbed my wrist, or tried to anyways. He was stumbling on his feet and was probably about to topple over passed out.

For a moment I worried over how being this drunk would affect the effects of Spirit on him, no doubt it wasn't a healthy combination. But I shoved those thoughts away as I remembered what he had done to me, not that I had been entirely fair to him thinking about loving another man.

When his hand didn't wrap around my wrist like he expected, Adrian was sent towards the floor in a forward fall from overbalancing himself. Darting out without thinking I grabbed his arm and threw my small weight the opposite direction, just barely able to keep him on his feet.

We just stood there staring at each other for several moments, rather expressionless. I should have been pissed at him, I should have been screaming and ranting and still fuming from the name he had called me and what he had accused me of but yet I found my anger fading to worry for him.

Wrapping my arm around his waist I sighed heavily and shoved any pent up anger at him away for the moment. "Let's get you inside and laying down."

He began to argue with me and weakly try to shove me away, which was just pathetic when he was this drunk, but I was already leading him out of the door and towards his private rooms. He mumbled something nearly unintelligible to me but I caught my name and the word talk well enough anyways.

"We can talk when you're sober." I told him gently as I led him up to his door. Fumbling for a moment I propped him up against the wall and thought over how to get into his rooms. I didn't even possess the key he had given me anymore, I had left it in his rooms the last time I had been there. Not only that but I would not have had it on my person even if I had.

Leaning against him to keep him from falling I began to search through his pockets for the key. In any other situation I would have found this funny and probably just downright fun but now I was set on getting him inside before anyone saw him this drunk or saw us and assumed I was a blood whore who would feel him up in the open. Taking a deep breath I move on to checking his pants pockets, Adrian was very nearly passed out now at least.

Finally my fingers closed around a small metal object and relieved I noted it was in fact the key to his rooms. Once the door was open I dragged him inside and shoved him down onto his bed as best I could with my diminutive size, his breathing already evening out into that of a sleeping person.

I sat down beside him on his bed and fell back now covered in drying sweat from both my workout and dragging him back to his room, my black shorts and shirt sticking to my body more than usual. I got a deep breath of alcohol rich air though and nearly choked on the extreme smell. Holding my breath I kicked out both my shoes and his own before dragging him back upright again.

As I dragged him toward the bathroom I randomly noted that my phone was placed just where I left it, perfectly intact and in working order I noticed as the screen lit up with a new text message. It could wait until later. Right now I was going to take care of the man who was taking over more and more of my heart.

Who knew what feelings I still held for Dimitri and who knew if I would act upon them but for now I would try to salvage what I could with the man who had never left me. Everyone talks about love at first sight and burning hot, passionate romances, the kind of love that burns bright from the start, that was what I had had with Dimitri. Fewer talk about the slow burning loves, the ones that build and build, and they very rarely talk good about the kind where you learn to love someone.

But that is what I had had with Adrian, I had not loved him from the start, sure he was attractive but it hadn't been sudden love. Nor had my heart been free of claim when we had begun our relationship. Yet I had slowly grown to love him, was still learning to. But I could feel tendrils of love for him unfurl and reach out, spreading through my heart, taking over with each passing day. With him it felt right I realized, it didn't feel like I was forcing myself to care but it felt like I was slowly getting to know and love more and more of him.

We reached the bathroom and I leaned him up against the wall as I turned on the shower, cold water pouring out of the shower head in a thick jet. I peeled his shirt off of him, a designer piece no doubt, pricey and expensive, and threw it across the room in a wadded pile. I stared at his pants for a moment, the material lavish and obviously rather expensive, plus the pants looked delicious on him.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered to him quickly before dragging both of us into the cold stream of the shower, he started at the cold water but just barely. I had meant to apologize merely for ruining his pants but there was a deep sorrow that laced my words. And I knew I was apologizing for so much more than the pants.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered and placed a soft kiss to his wet lips. Water ran over us both, weighing down our clothes and slicking our skin but I didn't care a bit, my eyes were glued to his face.

I lowered us to the shower floor and sat down beside him, cradling his head in my lap and gently stroking his hair.

"I'm sorry…" My voice broke at the end, the soft words nearly drowned out by the running water. It was only the middle of the moroi 'day' but my eyes felt like lead weights as they began to close, sleep coming for me swiftly. I had exhausted myself both mentally and physically.

Water swirled and washed down the drain. It washed away the stench of alcohol. It washed away my sweat. It washed away the dirt on us both. It washed away all of these minor things burdening us. So maybe… just maybe, I hoped as I drifted off to sleep, it could help wash away our bigger problems too. That was my last optimistic thought as I fell asleep, cuddled up to my own moroi under the spray of a cold shower.


	8. Nothing But A Blood Whore

**As always I do not own anything Vampire Academy. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and would love to see any comments anyone has. :3**

I awoke hours later to the sputtering, ice-cold spray of the shower and a groan of pain coming from my lap. Glancing down, I watched as Adrian came to groggily, clutching his head and moaning in pain. I reached up and shut the shower off before running my fingers through his hair.

"Hang over?" I whispered softly, knowing he'd hear me in the resounding silence that inhabited his bathroom.

A groan answered my question well enough as he kept his eyes scrunched tightly closed and his hands clutching at his head. Carefully, I rolled him off of my lap and got up to switch off the bathroom light before coming back for him and helping him out of the shower.

Both of us were still clad in our clothes from the previous moroi day, now drenched from our hours long sleep in the shower. He hadn't said a word yet but I wasn't exactly excited to go through everything we should talk over at the moment.

I left him in a cushioned chair before filling a tumbler full of water and handing it to him, peeling his hands off of his head and wrapping his fingers around it securely before letting go.

"Drink." I told him softly as I moved to sit by his feet on the floor, my clothes already forming a darkened splotch in the carpet where it was soaking up water.

It took him several minutes but steadily he drank more and more of the water until it was gone. I got up two more times to refill the glass and made sure he drank it all until I finally just sat by him.

His hangover was still there but hopefully the water would aid him in working it off. I had been sitting there, facing the wall, for several minutes and was just about to suggest we get him into some different clothes when I heard him breathing smooth and evenly. He was asleep.

Before I left his rooms I laid a blanket over him and gave in to temptation as I kissed him softly on the lips. I was nearly at the door when I remembered that my phone was still laying on his coffee table.

I stooped down to pick up the phone and light glinted off another object, catching my eye. It was one of the keys to his rooms. My memory wasn't clear as to what I had done with his own personal key from last night and who knew what he had done with the one he had given to me at the party a few days ago. Either way it was a key.

I hesitated for a moment before finally picking it up and sticking it in the pocket of my shorts. Might as well take it for later to check up on him, I thought as I tried to rationally convince myself that I should take the key.

Luckily the hallway was deserted as I headed off for my room from Adrian's. However the tides changed as I rounded a corner and ran directly into a group of moroi, mostly royals from the looks of things and all around my own age.

If I had been lucky I could have slipped by and hurried off to my rooms however instead I was just barely able to stop myself before physically running into Camille Conta. Out of the group I recognized both Camille and Abby Badica, the others I could not place names at the time and I really didn't care. Both Abby and Camille were around Lissa and I's age and had both attended Saint Vladimir's as well. Belatedly I also recognized Jesse Zeklos in the group as well as Ralf Sarcozy and Xander Badica, just my luck that I would run into all three of them at the same time.

What was this? Had there been a notice for all of them to visit court at the same time? As far as I knew there was no event that would cause all of them to be at court at the same time other than just mere coincidence in having overlapping stays.

The boys smirked at my drenched rat appearance and of course it was Jesse Zeklos who spoke up first. Ugh, I can barely believe that I ever made out with the damned bastard. At least Dimitri had caught us before too long… ah, Dimitri…

"What'd you do? Wrestle a strigoi in a pool Hathaway?" Jesse's annoying voice drew me out of my thoughts.

"No but at least I could if I had to." I retorted. "I doubt you could hit one if they were standing right before your eyes." Not my best come back but it was something. Honestly after sleeping the night in a running shower and hauling a drunk Adrian around I wasn't at the peak of my wits.

Jesse scowled slightly, which I promptly ignored as I tried to make my way by the group of moroi. However Jesse, Ralf, and Xander all came to stand right in my way as I moved, the girls at least were staying back. Smart.

I frowned and put my hands on my hips, impatient as all hell to get back to my rooms, change into dry clothes, and get a few hours of decent, and dry, sleep.

"Move." The shortest and simplest demand and any sane person might have noticed how pissed off I was becoming at being delayed but they stood there ground anyways like the idiots they were.

Jesse stepped forward to stand right in front of me. I slowly moved my head to look up at him, anger burning in my eyes. That was one thing I hated about my height, more often than not I was looking up at people. Although over the years I had learned how to still have the advantage even if I couldn't look down on others usually. He smirked at me like I was some pathetic child that had no chance of winning against him, verbally or physically.

"Where are you in such a rush to? Don't want to be seen?" He peered around me and if anything his smirk grew. "Leaving Ivashkov's rooms were we?" he mocked me.

I really couldn't see where he was going with this. Everyone knew that I had been with Adrian for a while now and that I didn't give a flying crap about who knew anymore. If I could put up with the hell his relatives, especially his father and Queen Tatiana, put me through then everything else was a dream in comparison.

"So what Zeklos? Jealous?"

He barked loudly in laughter at my words. "If anything I'm jealous that Ivashkov has his own personal blood whore 24/7." He reached out and brushed his hand over my arm, "Perhaps you'd consider sharing your services…"

I scowled and struck out, grabbing his wrist tightly, twisting his arm behind his back suddenly which caused him to spin on his feet and face away from me. Yanking hard up on his arm I was only satisfied when I heard something pop and he screamed out in pain.

"No one calls me that no one. Got it? Next time you say that to me it'll be more than a dislocated shoulder." I snarled in his ear before finally dropping his arm and quickly heading past the group and once more towards my room. At first I heard footsteps following me, no doubt Ralf and Xander. Ralf had never had a great chance at catching anyone what with his size and lack of any training. And I truly wasn't that worried about Xander catching up to me.

But the footsteps stopped rather quickly, Jesse had probably called them back to help him no doubt. I would have given anything for a fight right about then and was tempted to deal with the other two but beating up moroi in the middle of court wasn't that smart of an idea. Even just dislocating Zeklos' arm like I had was a risk for retribution.

Finally reaching my rooms I went inside and sighed as I slipped out of my wet clothing and into a dry pair of shorts and a purple t-shirt before finally falling back onto my bed. Soon enough I was asleep and lost to the world of dreams.

Only two hours later I awoke to a pounding on my door. Sighing, I pushed myself off of the bed and opened the door to find Lissa with her hand raised to knock again, Christian standing behind her with one of his guardians lurking a few feet down the hallway.

Lissa offered me a small smile as I let her in. Christian followed her in and made himself at home in a plush chair in the corner of my bedroom. His guardian had stayed out in the hallway for now. There weren't that many threats at court and things were a bit more lax most of the time concerning guardian protocol.

I was moving to sit down on my bed next to where Lissa had settled herself when she finally spoke.

"I was going to come by to talk about Dimitri coming back but … something kind of… came up." She spoke somewhat timidly, as if she were afraid of something or worried.

"Lissa what's wrong?" I asked her, somewhat worried over her concern.

"They're saying you dislocated Jesse Zeklos' arm. He's claiming that you viciously attacked him while he was just walking down the hall with some friends. He said you threatened his life."

"The little rat!" I exclaimed. He was exaggerating everything out of proportion and not to mention leaving out rather important details to the tale.

"So it's true? Rose you know you shouldn't…"

"Lissa, listen." I cut her off rather sharply, fury burning in my eyes, probably only enhanced by the aftereffects of spirit that built up within me through Lissa. " I was coming back here from Adrian's where I had been dealing with my drunk boyfriend when I ran into Jesse and his 'friends'. He blocked my way and called me a blood whore to my face." I tried to catch her gaze with my own, hoping she'd understand that it was rather reasonable to get upset when called just about the worst thing you could call a dhampir.

She sighed softly beside me before finally looking at me. "They could suspend you for this Rose. You injured a moroi and not just a moroi but a royal moroi, the very people they expect you to protect."

I began to protest but she waved me off with her hand before continuing.

"Look I know Jesse is an asshole but that doesn't mean you can beat on him. You're my best friend and my guardian and I'd like to keep you as both." Lissa leaned against me and I instinctively ran my hand through her golden hair.

"I wouldn't let them take me away from you." I told her vehemently.

"I know but they're going to believe Jesse over whatever you say and the witnesses aren't going to rat out Jesse's lies because they don't want him angry with them. Maybe I can talk to the queen…" I could tell she was more talking to herself than anything now. "Yes I could talk to Tatiana perhaps persuade her it was all a misunderstanding…"

I shook my head softly and gently pulled Lissa to her feet, looking her in the eyes. "Let me deal with this. Don't work yourself up over it. Go to your rooms, take Christian with you, do whatever it is you two want to do and just relax alright?"

She nodded her head but I didn't entirely trust that she wasn't going to run off to Queen Tatiana anyways. Casting a serious look at Christian, I handed her over to him and watched as he nodded his head in my direction, hopefully taking heed of my words. I watched as they walked out of my rooms hoping she wouldn't worry too much over rumors of what I had done to Jesse Zeklos.

Since I was up I figured I might as well head over to Adrian's rooms again and see if he was doing any better. I threw on a pair of jeans instead of my shorts before heading out and luckily this time didn't run into anyone of any consequence. Although I still felt like people's gazes were focused on the back of my head but whenever I looked around no one was there or looking at me.

Shrugging off my paranoia I unlocked the door to Adrian's suite and headed inside. I didn't call out to him since his head had been killing him the last time I saw him a few hours ago. I found him laying in his bed, his eyes barely cracked open as I walked in. He must have moved to the bed at some point since I had left earlier.

Once again I set my things down on the table and headed towards his bed, making my way easily in the dark room thanks to my rather excellent night vision. It was the middle of the moroi day but as far as I was concerned none of that mattered at the moment.

I sat down beside him and gently ran my fingers through his hair before kissing him softly for a few moments. "Feeling any better?" I whispered to him against his lips before pulling away.

He sighed and opened his eyes further to look at me. "A bit. I suppose I should thank you for bringing me back here last night." A familiar spark lit up his eyes. "Of course I could be imagining things but was it me or did you throw us both in the shower with clothes on?"

"Oh shut up." I rolled onto my back and cuddled up to his side, wrapping my arm around his bar chest. At least his personality was coming back, even though he drank so much he had so much alcohol tolerance and experience with this situation I wasn't surprised he was getting better in such a little amount of time.

I felt it as he kissed the top of my head and pulled me closer to his side. "I remember what you said." He whispered softly.

Instantly I knew what he was talking about. 'I'm sorry.' He had heard me muttering and whispering the words to him over and over. I had been fairly sure he wouldn't remember it in his drunken state but who could ever guess what a drunk person remembered or forgot. I opened my mouth, probably about to try to explain that it was meaningless words meant because I ruined his pants, when he spoke again.

"We still should talk sometime but for now…" He smiled and rolled me on top of him. "I'd like to spend some quality time with my little dhampir."

Smiling back at him, I leaned down and kissed him. I could feel his hands run up my sides, bunching up the fabric of my shirt along the way. His hands ran over my bare skin and I shivered in excitement.

He rolled us over again, smiling down at me now, and stretched my arms above my head. Adrian leaned down and kissed along my neck lightly, teasingly, earning a growl of impatience from me.

I wrestled my wrist free from his grasp and pulled him closer to me. "Bite me…" It was frowned upon and seen as a taboo but I knew that taking my blood would both help him out of his hangover and please him greatly.

I felt his fangs brush over my skin softly before plunging deep into my neck like needles. There was a moment of stinging pain however it quickly faded to give way to immense pleasure, which brought a soft moan from my lips. So many frowned upon the act but to me there was a certain intimacy that could only be achieved between a moroi and their partner through this specific act.

Maybe I was a blood whore but I wasn't one in the conventional sense of the word. I had given him my blood and I had given it to him before during sex but I was his and he was mine. It was more than just allowing any moroi male to drink from my vein. It was special.

When he finished drinking there was more of that familiar shine to his eyes and he kissed me deeply and truly.

For hours we lost ourselves in each other's touch and kisses. Our clothes found new homes on the floor and random furniture as we gave way to abandon. His touch burned in such an amazing way and his kisses were like a drug. We were lost to the world and all that mattered was each other. For the rest of the night no thoughts of Jesse Zeklos, Tasha Ozera, or Dimitri crossed my mind as Adrian stole the entirety of my attention in just about the best ways I could imagine.

As I cuddled up to him afterwards, basking in the afterglow, it was almost as if I could feel those tendrils of growing love wrapping tighter around my heart, taking over slowly but surely. Laying there with my arm around him and his hand lazily drawing circles on my back I was very nearly lost to sleep when a heaving pounding echoed through his rooms from the main door.


	9. Lies And Slander

**As usual I do not own anything Vampire Academy. I hope you enjoy this chapter (here's hoping it's alright on my part _ ) and would love to hear any comments anyone has. :3**

Laying there cuddled up to Adrian's side was bliss. My arm was wrapped around his chest and my legs were pleasantly tangled with his beneath the sheets. I was drifting off when a loud banging came from the front door followed by a booming voice telling us to open up.

Shit, why did this have to happen now, when I was finally relaxed and enjoying myself? I wondered as the banging continued. Damn, what were they trying to do? Ram down the door?

I watched with a smile on my face as Adrian reluctantly got out of bed and pulled on his pants from before, which had been wadded up on the ground. I could hear the click of the deadbolt as he unlocked the door and from where I laid could make out only a sliver of the doorway.

I waited there hoping whatever this was would be over quickly and he could return to bed with me. He spoke to whoever was at the door for several long moments, their speech soft and muffled to my ear, before finally returning to me with a grim look on his face. The door was still open, light spilling in from the hallway lit up the room slightly.

I propped myself up on my elbows and looked at him, worried. "What is it?" When he didn't respond I knelt on the bed and moved as close to him as I could, clutching the sheets to my body to cover myself. "Adrian?"

Reaching out I placed my hand on his face gently and looked him in the eyes.

"Guardians are at the door." He started softly and finally truly returned my gaze. "They're demanding you come with them."

"What for?" I couldn't think of anything other than dislocating Jesse's shoulder that might cause their concern. But taking me into custody with more than one guardian to escort me to where seemed rather excessive.

"They didn't say babe." Adrian smiled grimly and kissed me softly. "They said they're under orders from my aunt though." He whispered gently. Great. His aunt… Tatiana… commonly known as the Queen of the moroi.

Sighing, I got up off of the bed, dragging the sheet with me as I collected my clothing. Might as well see why they were here. It really was no surprise that they had found me here, other than Lissa and I's own suites, Adrian's was the next place I'd look for me too. Quickly I threw my clothes back on, barely finished pulling up my shorts when the guardians finally entered the room, probably too impatient to wait for either of us to call them in.

I glared at them as they approached me. There were three of them and I vaguely recognized them from around court however their names alluded me. When they finally reached me I was suddenly whipped around and held with my hands behind my back.

"Let go!" I snarled viciously and lashed out at my captors out of instinct. The impression had been that they were here to collect me willingly but apparently that wasn't entirely the truth I realized as they cuffed my hands together. My foot came down on the instep of the one holding me and I grinned as he yelped out in pain, and yet his grip stayed put around my arms, tightening in anger if anything. At least the quality of guardian training was still high.

As they led me to the door I pulled at my wrists, hoping that there was some leeway or weakness in the cuffs however I frowned in severe dismay as I felt thick plastic scraping against my skin. Twisting my head, I was barely able to catch sight of the edge of the 'cuffs' and cursed under my breath as I realized they had tied my hands together with zip tie cuffs. The only damned way to remove those things was to cut them to pieces and sadly they left no leeway for movement.

Then we were gone, out of Adrian's suite without even a moment for me to truly say goodbye or even say that I was willing to go with them. I wondered for a moment what they would do or say if I were to tell them I wouldn't go with them, although when I was already cuffed that statement would have next to no desired effect. They were dragging me through hallways and corridors when I finally spoke up.

"So where are you fellows supposed to be taking me anyways?" A dead silence met my question. "Can you at least tell me why you're taking me wherever the hell we're going?" I demanded, once again silence met my words. "Do you even KNOW why you're taking me?" I demanded several moments later and was at least met with a rough grunt from one of my captors.

The rest of the walk was rather uneventful as I continued to pester these other guardians about where we were going and why. My attempts at getting anything out of them however were futile. I was just about ready to scream when we finally reached a doorway. And unfortunately a doorway I had had the displeasure of seeing before.

This was the doorway to Tatiana's private office.

As they dragged me through the doorway I barely suppressed a groan but did take the chance to look around and judge my surroundings. It looked the same as it had before. Positioned in a lavish seat was the Queen herself and across from her sitting on an equally extravagant piece of furniture was Jesse Zeklos, with a swollen black eye and bruises lining his arms quite thoroughly. I knew I had caused him pain but this wasn't my doing.

The guardians brought me suddenly to an abrupt halt, causing my head to be thrown around in a rather uncomfortable manner. I raised my gaze and looked at Tatiana, the royal bitch who constantly was finding any little way to bring me down it seemed.

"Rose Hathaway…" she spoke my name like it was some vile curse, a poison that tasted bitter on her lips. "How… fortunate it was that you could join us." Tatiana shifted her gaze and addressed the guardians behind me next. "I trust you had little trouble finding her." Her statement almost poised as a question instead.

"Not much. She was not in her own apartments or Lady Dragomir's but we were able to find her in Lord Ivashkov's, your majesty." The guardian who had been dragging me for most of the way, a tall blonde haired man probably about a decade older than myself, responded.

A scowl darkened Tatiana's brow as he mentioned finding me in Adrian's rooms. She saw it unfit that her precious nephew would 'lower' himself to dating a dhampir and one as rebellious as myself at that. But I almost smiled at how much I noticed his offhand comment irritated her.

When her burning glare refocused in my direction however I lost any amusement that had briefly fluttered through my mind.

"Guardian Hathaway. You have been called here on account of some rather disturbing reports of you acting against and physically harming moroi royals without cause." Finally, someone told me a reason why I had been dragged here, even if it was rather vague.

I scowled as I replied, "If this is about how I dislocated Jesse's shoulder I had a quite plausible cause. He's a weakling if he can't handle a little pain." I bit out between clenched teeth, my anger beginning to get the better of me.

"His shoulder?" Tatiana raised an eyebrow and flicked her gaze in Jesse's direction for a moment. "What about his eye or the various bruises from when you viciously accosted him."

"I did no such thing!" I spat out, glaring at Jesse.

"But she did your majesty! I was walking along and Hathaway jumped on me, beating on me like a heathen, threatening my life!" Up until then Jesse had been silent and I cursed that he had to intrude the conversation with his irritating voice.

"Liar!" I shouted, aiming my words in his direction. "You are nothing more than a pathetic weasel of a man trying to…"

"I'm pathetic? You sent your goons back to my rooms to assault me last night! I barely left with my life! Luckily one of my guardians had walked by when they did otherwise…"

"Enough!" The queen roared, fury lacing her voice. "Jesse you may go."

"But my Queen…" He began to protest.

"You are dismissed." She told him sternly, enunciating her words clearly like one would to a young child.

I nearly felt the need to gloat as Jesse slinked from the room but soon enough the severity of the situation hit me once again. I faced the Queen and tried to soften my glare although I doubt I was successful at all really.

"It has been noted that you attacked Lord Zeklos yesterday in the hallway and dislocated his shoulder. We have numerous witnesses that agree with Lord Zeklos' account." Her words made my scowl deepen. "Do you deny these charges?"

"No your majesty." I was just able to bite out the proper title rather than calling her by a rather rude name. "I do not deny the fact that I dislocated Lord Zeklos' shoulder but I do disagree on the account that I had no cause."

She glared at me for a moment before finally replying. "And what would be this justifiable cause of which you speak Miss Hathaway?"

"I was headed back to my own rooms when I ran into Mr. Zeklos and his group. When I tried to pass he had his buddies and him block my path entirely…"

"And so you attacked him? Hardly reasonable Miss H…"

"Actually your majesty I attacked him after he made some rather rude suggestions and calling me nothing more than your nephew's personal blood whore." I bit out, cutting her off just to be able to finish my side of the story. Originally I had aimed to leave Adrian out of the story as my involvement with him was a sore spot for the Queen however it had slipped out before I could stop myself.

"Still a rather weak reason to attack someone who you are sworn to protect…. By extent." She tacked on, meaning that as a guardian my overall job was to protect the moroi. "As for the rest of it. Well.. Lord Zeklos returned to his guest rooms last night to find a trained fighter lying in wait for him. He was brutally attacked and my mere luck was found by his guardians before too long. None of them were able to catch a good look at this attacker but they seemed trained as a guardian from what they could figure. Not to mention the fact that they found a stake at the crime scene. Oddly enough however a note threatening Jesse Zeklos' life and several others' was left behind. Zeklos described his attacker as around your height and weight with a similar skin tone although in the darkness he couldn't catch much more. You have been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy against several moroi." She eyed me with a high amount of suspicion in her gaze. "What do you say to these charges?

I sputtered for air for a few moments before finally calming myself enough to restrain from yelling in her face.

"I have no clue of what you speak your majesty. I was not involved in any way with this secondary attack on Lord Zeklos and neither was I in league with anyone else involving anything of the sort." I could tell by her mistrusting stare that she didn't believe me a single bit.

"A court date shall be set. Until then Guardian Hathaway is suspended from all duties as a guardian and shall be taken to remain in a prison cell." Tatiana told my captors icily before standing up to walk away.

I was being dragged out of the room and she was almost gone when I spoke up. "What about Lissa? She needs two guardians." I began to protest. Lissa was additionally my best friend and I felt responsible but good knowing that I was in charge, at least in part, for her protection. It was hard for me to entirely trust anyone else with her complete wellbeing when they didn't share the mental connection or friendship I did with her. Locking me up would leave her vulnerable without my protection, at least somewhat. Not to mention all I had wanted while we were at Saint Vladimir's was to be assigned as Lissa's guardian in the end.

The queen turned back quite slowly to face me at last. "We shall find her a new one." And with those words the Queen was gone and I was taken off to await my fate in a cold, dreary cell as my life as I knew it shattered around me.


	10. Prison Bars And Blood

**As always I do not own anything Vampire Academy.**

Alright, so my cell wasn't completely disgusting as I had fantasized it to be originally. It had a cot against the wall but everything was just so plain. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, the cot, even the people who guarded the cells. I had spent plenty of time already sitting on the cot and thinking over possible escape routes. When that had failed me I had begun to think over these accusations they placed me with and who might have been behind the actual act, if there was one. I wouldn't entirely put it past Jesse to fake an attack and blame me for it however something just didn't feel like a hoax to me.

It had been three days, at least from what I could tell, since they had dragged me down here to stay. Three days that I hadn't seen the sun. Three days in which I hadn't had any visitors, or at least hadn't been allowed to have visitors. Three days in which I had been disconnected from the world I knew.

That morning I had awoken to the guards sliding a tray of bland food into my cell, the plastic tray grating against the floor. I had lost much of my appetite while imprisoned although I forced down a few measly bites of food, barely tasting it as it slid down my throat.

Shortly after I had woken I had taken to pacing within the small boundaries of my cell. My mind was overwhelmed with impatience and a slow-burning anger over the horrible situation.

When I heard the creak of the door opening at the end of the hall my head perked up, alert, as I headed over to stand in front of the bars of my cell. From what I could tell I was the only one kept in these cells at the moment so the obvious conclusion would be that whoever had just entered the hallway was coming to my cell. Although I couldn't see them yet I could hear two sets of footsteps as whoever had come to see me came closer.

I had guessed that at least one of the footsteps was a guardian that guarded these cells but thankfully the second belonged to someone else entirely. I felt my lips quirk up barely in a small smile at finally seeing a friendly face rather than the bland faces of the guardians or accusing glares of others.

"Miss me little dhampir?" he purred in his familiar voice, coming to stand in front of my cell with only the metal bars between us.

"Adrian. You can't believe how glad I am to see someone other than the guardians here." I told him, relief clear in my voice. I paused for a moment as we just stood there. "Wait, you came to get me out of this boring hellhole right?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him in suspicion for a moment.

For a moment Adrian frowned at me. "Well I went to go talk to my aunt about and unfortunately," he took a pause for a breath, the moments between his words were agonizing for me, "the only way I could convince her to release you from this cell was to tell her in some amount of detail how you and I were spending the night, rather intimately as I remember it, that Lord Zeklos was attacked." He smirked at my furious expression.

"Adrian! You did what?" I raged, rather infuriated that he would tell his aunt, the Queen, a thing such as that. It wasn't that I was upset that he had divulged what we had done so much as it was the fact that he had told Tatiana, knowing how much she disliked me already without us rubbing our relationship in her face in such a manner, not that I had ever tried to hide it. He was so lucky that at the moment I was still stuck behind these bars, I'm not sure what I would've done if I had been free to get my hands on him at that moment, boyfriend or no.

Adrian smirked as if pleased with what he had done, "Well she couldn't exactly call her favorite nephew a liar now could she? Nor would she believe that I would lie to her even if I am dating a 'dreadful dhampir'." He was smart enough to take a step back from the bars as I reached my hand through to grab for him. "Her words not mine babe."

"Traitor…" I murmured halfheartedly, not meaning it at all. Once again I took to pacing the length of my cell, it seemed like a better option than standing still while he tormented me with his words, intentionally or not.

"But after conceding to see that you had a reliable alibi for the evening she could do nothing but release you into my care. Although, I'll admit she was rather unhappy about it." He finally finished, genuinely grinning at me this time as the guardian that had come with him finally took out a key to unlock my cell.

When finally the door opened I walked through it and stood in front of Adrian with my hands on my hips, all five foot seven inches of me focused on staring him down.

"Release me into your care? Those were her words exactly?" I remarked, my foot tapping steadily on the floor.

"Perhaps not but her words were open to interpretation." He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me in close. I could have dug my heels into the floor and made things more difficult for him but I freely went into his arms, loving the feeling of being held in his embrace again.

I sighed softly as I laid my head against his chest, my arms sliding into place around his own waist. "You know this doesn't mean I've forgiven you for telling your aunt what you told her."

As he chuckled I felt his chest vibrate, the pleasant sound echoed in my ear. "I figured as much. But she was the one who didn't accept it when I simply told her that you were with me."

A cough came from the guardian who still stood near us, his task done with and impatient to get back to the office in the front of the building. Glad to leave this place, I slid my hand into Adrian's and walked with him down the corridor and out of the front door, surprisingly joyful to see the sky again, even if it was dark and filled with stars rather than the sun.

We were headed back to his apartment when his phone rang, the noise echoing louder as he drew it out of his pocket. I heard him great whoever was on the phone and heard his side of the brief conversation, not much to go off of from what he said.

Suddenly, Adrian spun me around and pinned me against the wall, his hands on either side of my head as his arms trapped me there, quite willingly if I might add. He leaned his forehead against mine and sighed.

"I barely get you back in my arms and I regret to say that I must go." He kissed me briefly, his lips moving gently against my own.

When he began to pull away from me I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck and pulled him back down. My lips moved against his in an urgent and passionate demand, the kiss quickly deepening as his tongue came to play with my own, claiming him as my own.

His hand slid down my arm before sliding back up my side, brushing the bottom of my breast as he settled his hand high on my side. I nipped at his bottom lip lightly as he pulled back from me again, an almost pained expression on his face.

"I would much rather stay here with you. Yet it was my father who called with some pressing matter he must speak to me about." Sarcasm heavily laced his voice on his last words. "I'll come find you later my little dhampir." With that he slid a cool object into my hand and gave me one last, light kiss before walking away, leaving me standing there alone.

Since I was at a loss as to what to do and had been unable to reach almost everyone on the outside of my cell I went off in search of Lissa. Our bond had allowed me some connection to the outside but since the situation had never turned to a life or death situation I had tried not to pry into her mind.

Her and Christian possessed two separate apartments however as always where there was one the other was to be found. I had not sensed any feelings of extreme pleasure whispering across our bond from Lissa however when she opened her door with a shocked expression I could tell by her swollen lips, mussed up hair, and flushed appearance what they had been up to before I had knocked.

I was about to say hello when she flung her arms around me in a hug and buried her face in my shoulder. She said something but the words were too muffled to make out with her face buried against my shoulder. For a moment I hugged her back before gently prying her arms off of me to be able to look her in the eyes, and hopefully understand whatever she had been saying.

"I was so worried about you." She exclaimed, a small smile lighting up her face almost sadly. "They told us you were taken into custody but they wouldn't tell us why. A- and… I wasn't… I wasn't able to get an audience with the Queen for some reason.." She continued on beginning to ramble.

"Lissa… Lissa. Look at me." I met her gaze with my own and smiled at her. "I'm right here, free and unbound. At least for now and that's all that matters."

Closing the door behind me, I followed Lissa further into her apartment and smirked as I saw Christian's disgruntled expression at being interrupted.

"Christian."

"Rose…" he bit out in greeting, no doubt wishing I hadn't knocked when I had.

Lissa sat down, wrapped in Christian's arms, on the edge of her bed as I began to pace, yet again. Apparently I had picked up the habit, at least temporarily.

"What happened Rose? Why did they imprison you?" she finally asked me, a worried look on her face.

Sighing, I took a deep breath as I began to tell her everything, from them storming into Adrian's apartment and cuffing me to Adrian busting me out of my dull cell. When I mentioned in a vague manner what Adrian had had to tell Tatiana to get her to believe my alibi Christian took his turn to smirk, earning a glare from me as I continued to aimlessly wander about the room, less and less actual pacing but just movement to keep from becoming restless.

"What I want to know is who actually did attack Zeklos that night." I thought out loud. "I'm not sure if they had originally planned to frame me but it had to have helped cover their tracks that I had injured him earlier in the day and threatened him too."

"Not a smart move huh Hathaway?" Christian taunted.

"Oh shut up." I muttered, too caught up in trying to think this through to respond in my usual manner.

We spent time going through suspects and possible reasons why the attack had happened at all. Truly it was me talking and thinking out loud for the most part, not that I gave them much of a chance to speak up very often.

About a half hour after I had arrived at Lissa's apartment my phone lit up with an incoming text. It was from Adrian, as if I couldn't have guessed that.

_'I'm back at my place. Hope I'll see you soon. ;) '_

I texted him back, replying that I was with Lissa but would be there fairly soon. However it ended up being almost half an hour before I finally stepped out of Lissa's apartment and headed towards Adrian's. When I finally left I was wondering if perhaps Jesse had faked the entire incident after all to frame me for a much larger incident than what had actually happened in the hall.

Lost in my thoughts, I wound through the familiar hallways as if on autopilot, humming a tune as an attempt to distract myself. I was almost at Adrian's apartment when a figure clad entirely in black darted down the hallway from the opposite direction, ramming into my shoulder as they passed me by. I considered running after them to see what was going on but before I could make up my mind they were long gone. Yet for a moment I continued standing there slightly stunned, maintaining my balance to avoid falling, and wondering why they had been sprinting frantically down the hallway like that.

At long last I just chalked it up to some minor incident or problem that required that person's attention immediately. It wasn't that far of a stretch when we were in the middle of a large facility containing the moroi court, various moroi and dhampir inhabitants, numerous guardians, and many visiting moroi as well. All in all I had seen weirder things in my time here and could imagine much stranger things that could have happened instead.

As I rounded the last corner that led to Adrian's apartment I stopped dead in my tracks. I could see his door from where I stood and it was flung wide open. What sent a chill through my bones is that no light was coming from within his apartment and last I knew he was still supposedly in there waiting for me.

Within mere seconds I was dashing towards his door and running inside, flipping light switches roughly as I passed them by, leaving those that were out of my way untouched as I headed towards his bedroom. When I reached his bedroom door the rest of the apartment was lit up like a Christmas tree, blazing with light.

The sight that greeted me upon entering his room horrified me and not because it was bloody but because of who was laying in the middle of all that blood. Because laying unconscious, bloodied, bruised, and broken in the middle of the blood splattered around him was Adrian himself. And as I knelt beside him, cradling his head in my lap, I felt true fear for the first time in a long time, fear for the life of the man I was discovering I loved. Then like a girl in a horror film I screamed.

**So that's it for this chapter. I'd love to see what you have to say about it in the reviews. Hope you enjoyed it. :3**


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